Justice News

Lawyer Indicted For Tax Evasion On Income Received Over The Course Of Two Decades, Including Income Derived From Illinois Tobacco Litigation

CHICAGO ― A Chicago lawyer was indicted on federal charges alleging that he evaded the payment of income tax on income he received over the course of two decades, including income he received in connection with the State of Illinois’s lawsuit against various tobacco companies.

Daniel P. Soso, 63, of Alsip, was charged with one count of income tax evasion. The indictment alleges that in 1996, the Illinois Attorney General entered into a written contract with several law firms who represented the State of Illinois in its lawsuit against certain tobacco companies to recover, among other things, money damages incurred by the State of Illinois as a result of the sale of tobacco products to residents of the State of Illinois. In addition, the contract provided that the law firms representing the State of Illinois, including Law Firm B, would share a “contingent fee” equal to ten percent of the total monetary recovery realized by the State of Illinois in its planned lawsuit. The indictment further alleges that Soso, Individual A (an individual formerly licensed to practice in Illinois) and Individual B (a partner of Law Firm B) entered into agreements to pay Soso and Individual A a portion of the attorney fees awarded in the tobacco lawsuit and concealed these agreements from the State of Illinois, the Illinois Attorney General and others.

The indictment further alleges that between 1993 and 2013, Soso failed to pay approximately $779,615.86 in taxes, which amount included taxes due from the income Soso received from the tobacco lawsuit. Further, the indictment alleges that Soso took a variety of acts to evade the payment of these taxes, to include the use of nominee bank accounts; making false statements to the IRS concerning his sources of income; and causing the circumvention of levies issued by the IRS to third parties to recoup taxes due from Soso.

The defendant will be arraigned at a later date in U.S. District Court. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $100,000 fine. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, announced the indictment with Stephen Boyd, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigative Division Chicago and Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Chicago. The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amarjeet S. Bhachu, Michael T. Donovan and Andrew K. Polovin.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains merely charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.